A Twist of Fate
by Okori Yo
Summary: Ever wonder what would happen if Kira never got the Strike Gundam? Read on to find out! Rated T for violence and mild language. R&R, please.
1. Prolouge

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Gundam SEED, the GM's or any of the characters from the series.

Note: This story starts just after Heliopolis is destroyed, and does not follow the show's timeline.

- - -

**Prolougue**

It was a normal day in the space colony of Heliopolis, with everyone going about their daily activities. That is, until sirens started to wail and explosions started going off. The unthinkable had happened: ZAFT had attacked a neutral colony! Kira Yamato and his friends rushed to the evacuation space pods, but Kira and another girl got separated in the confusion. They finally found a pod, and it just happened to have two spots left. (In the series, it only had one, and Kira had to go find another, and this eventually led to him getting the Strike.) So Kira and his friends escaped Heliopolis, never to appear in this story again.

Meanwhile, the _Archangel _was badly damaged in the explosion that started to attack. The only survivors were Murrue Ramius and Mu La Flaga.

At the same time, Athrun Zala, Yzak Joule, Dearka Elsman, Nicol Amalfi, and Rusty Mackensie steal the 5 prototype Gundams that the Earth Alliance secretly produced in Heliopolis. When Rusty went to steal the Strike Gundam, he had to fight Murrue Ramius, who had taken up a position beside the Strike's cockpit. After being wounded in the right shoulder by Rusty, she slipped and fell into the cockpit. When Murrue fell, she hit her head on something and was knocked unconscious. Rusty quickly climbed into the cockpit after shoving her to one side. After getting the Gundam on it's feet, the Coordinator took off after the rest of the team. Besides the Strike Gundam, the Duel Gundam, Buster Gundam, Blitz Gundam, and Aegis Gundam were also stolen.

Mu La Flaga had managed to get into space in his Moebius Zero and was fleeing the area. His Mobile Amour was also damaged in the explosion, and he couldn't afford to stay and fight. La Flaga had to alert the authorities of the attack.

Waiting in space for Athrun and the others was Miguel Aiman. He was fighting off the remaining attack force of Heliopolis, which consisted of a large group of Moebius Mobile Amours. After finishing off those, Miguel joined up with his teammates and headed back to their ship.

- - -

I know it's short, but the prologue gives a quick overview of what happened. I may include Mu La Flaga in a later chapter; I'm still thinking about it. And yes, I'm using the English names.


	2. Phase 1

**Phase 1 - "Shattered Peace"**

"Shireikan, what is the answer to question number eight?" The black haired youth was jerked out of a daydream by the teacher's questions. Blinking sleepily, he glanced at his notebook and replied,

"Um, ZAFT stands for Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty. The militia protect the PLANTs and is made up of civilians."

The teacher nodded in approval and continued to talk about the impact the PLANTs had on society. Done with his student duty for now, Shireikan, better known as Shi, went back to his daydream. Shi had been in the middle of an intense battle with ZAFT forces. As was usual in his daydreams, he was the hero; in this case he had just finished shooting down three GINNs in a damaged Moebius amour. The teen kept one ear on the teacher, copying down notes whenever it was necessary. As the bell rang, Shi gathered up his books and departed the class for his locker.

After school was done for the day, Shi walked home. His hazel eyes looked out over the space colony, secure in the thoughts that it wouldn't be attacked. After the attack on Heliopolis, all the Earth Alliance space colonies were in a panic, each wondering if they were next on ZAFT's list.

Paleis was located at Lagrange Point 1, and was the closest space colony to the PLANTs.

Paleis had traded with the PLANTs in the past, but since the war started most contact had been shut down. With this thought in mind, Shireikan walked up the front steps to his home.

He had lived in Paleis for his entire life, but Shi had been actually been born on Earth. He had been sent to live with his grandparents after a illness killed his parents days after his birth. The teen had never seen Earth except in pictures or videos, so he felt no connection to the war they were fighting with ZAFT. Being a neutral settlement, the colonies at Lagrange Point 1 had signed a peace agreement with ZAFT and the Earth Alliance. Many of the people living at Lagrange Point 1 were Coordinators who didn't want to fight in the war. For the most part, people here accepted them and even became friends with the Coordinators.

Entering the house, Shi dropped his schoolbag by the kitchen table the called hello to his grandparents.

"Hello Shi. How was your day at school?" His grandmother asked, looking up from her knitting. His grandmother had always knitted for as long as Shi could remember. She knitted everything from baby clothes to blankets and sweaters. Besides knitting his Grandmother was and excellent cook, and was often called upon to cook for community gatherings and such.

"My day was alright. We talked about the war between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT in class today. Apparently ZAFT is winning the war, even though the Earth Alliance has more people."

The teenage boy replied, adding: "If you need me, I'll be in my room."

With that, Shi turned and headed up to his bedroom to read.

- - -

All of Paleis was dark, except for a few stores that stayed open 24 hours a day. In his room, Shi slept soundly, dreaming of space battles. Elsewhere, in the main control room of the space colony, it was anything but quiet.

"Sir, radar indicates heat sources heading in our direction from the moon."

"What? Impossible! Why would the base on the moon attack us? We're a neutral colony! Check your systems again!" The head chief growled at the worker.

"I just did, sir. The beams are heading towards Lagrange Point 1. But the origin isn't from the moon base, sir. They're coming from outside the limits of the base!"

"WHAT! It must be ZAFT!" Put all security teams on Code Red, and sound the evacuation alarm." The man ordered as flashing red lights lit up the room.

Shireikan was awakened by the evacuation alarms howling, and he grandfather shaking him roughly.

"Shi, wake up! ZAFT is attacking! Get dressed and come with me now!"

Still half-asleep, Shi pulled on a pair of jeans, a white shirt, and a black vest and followed his grandfather. The old man lead him out the back door and down a side alley, then continued to weave through the darkened streets. Panting, Shi struggled to keep up to the pace his grandfather was setting.

"Grandpa, where are we going?" Shi finally asked as they left the city limits and headed into the park surrounding the city.

"There is no way that this colony can defend itself from an attack from space. The only way to protect Paleis is to fight ZAFT _in_ space, not from the colony. I would do it, but I am far too old to be racing around space." Turning towards his grandson, he continued. "So, I want you to do it for me." Shi opened his mouth to protest, but his grandfather held up a hand. The pair had stopped inside a large clearing. Striding over to one of the trees, the old man pressed on the trunk. Shi was about to ask what was going on when he heard a click and the ground started to rise.

Shireikan stared as the ground rose higher and higher, exposing a machine beneath it. It looked humanlike, and was much taller that Shi. It's head, arms, legs, and waist sections were white, with the chest section being a dark purple. In the middle of the chest was a red hatch, obviously a door. As he watched in amazement, it split in two and opened, revealing a seat. From the top section of the hatch a wire came down with a hollow triangular section at the bottom.

"That, Shi, is a GM. It's the only weapon Paleis has. I entrust this GM Command to you. Now, go out there and fight!" His grandfather said, his voice shaking slightly.

Numb from shock, Shi put his foot in the foothold and gripped the cord as it lifted him upwards towards the massive machine.

- - -

Yes, I'm using the GMs, which means the Earth Alliance won't be using the Daggers. Paleis is a made-up colony, but I've tried to make it similar to other colonies seen in Gundam Seed. Phase 2 is already done, I just need to make a few changes to it. Reviews are welcome as well as any questions.


	3. Phase 2

**Phase Two - "Path of the Soldiers"**

Space. A endless vacuum, broken only by the stars and the planets. Meimei sighed as she stared at the screen of her GM Sniper. As usual, she was bored, and there were no ZAFT ships around to hassle. Drumming her fingers on the armrest, she sighed again, and gazed off into the blackness of space. Meimei was drifting around near Lagrange Point 1, trying to decide what to do next.

"Should I go bother one of the colonies….? Or maybe find a ZAFT ship to attack?" She muttered. Flicking a stand for red hair out of her eyes, the teen glanced up as a GINN went racing by.

"What was that? And why is it out here?" Meimei cried, turning her GM in the direction the GINN had come from. In the distance floated the colony Paleis, but something wasn't right. Putting her screen on 'zoom', Meimei saw that lasers from the Moon were heading right towards the colony. Gasping, she put the GM's thrusters on full power and started to move towards the colony.

- - -

Shi gritted his teeth as he forced the GM Command through the damaged air lock and out into space. One of the laser beams had sideswiped the colony, damaging the air lock and most of the space port. The other had missed the colony completely, heading out into open space. Flying slowly along the side of the colony, Shi scanned the area for more laser attacks, but found none. A shield as mounted on the GM's left arm, and it carried a machine gun in it's right hand. Shi glanced down as his scanner beeped, showing two fast-moving objects approaching the area. Blinking, Shi stared. They weren't GINNs, but looked similar to what he was piloting, except they has two eyes instead of a mask. A red one was in front, with a blue and white one right behind it. Raising it's right arm, the red Mobile Suit fired at Shi with it's beam rifle. Moving quickly, the GM Command dodged the blast, and returned fire with it's machine gun. Blocking the bullets with it's shield, the red Mobile Suit fired two blasts are Shi, both witch he blocked with his shield. The fight continued in this way, both defending and returning fire.

- - -

Meanwhile, the blue and white Mobile Suit was being attacked by something father out in space. Meimei grinned as her GM Sniper hit the opposing Mobile Suit twice in the left shoulder, causing a slight explosion. Hidden in space, Meimei could freely attack as long as she wasn't spotted.

"So these are two of the prototype Mobile Suits that were stolen from Heliopolis. They sure seem powerful." The girl muttered as she continued to blast away at the helpless Gundam. From her network of sources, Meimei knew that these Mobile Suits were called Gundams, and that they had been produced to put an end to ZAFT. The one she was fighting was the Strike Gundam, and the Red one was the Aegis Gundam. Suddenly, the Strike and the Aegis pulled away from the colony and headed away from Meimei, back to their own ship.

Wondering what happened, Meimei noticed what the Aegis had been fighting with.

"Another GM? Where did that came from?" Putting the thrusters on half power, the GM Sniper flew closer to the other GM. Opening her comm. to the other machine, she said, "You put up a good fight against that Gundam. Where did you learn how to pilot it?"

- - -

Panting from the exertion of piloting the GM Command, Shireikan smiled as the two mystery machine flew away into deeper space. His radar flashed as another machine flew up to him, stopping about 100 feet away. Blinking, she stared at it in surprise. It was another GM! It looked like his, but was painted a light brown colour and had a long beam rifle.

"I…I just got this GM a couple of minutes ago." Shi stammered in reply to the female voice coming from his comm. He had no idea how to fight; Shi was surprised he managed to make the GM move, let alone survive combat.

"Gundam? You mean those two machines?"

"Yeah, those were two of the five Gundams stolen from Heliopolis."

"WHAT? You mean that was ZAFT?"

"Yeah…let me fill you in…"

- - -

Rusty Mackensie whistled a random tune as he floated towards the floor of the ship's hanger. His partner, Athrun Zala was just behind him. Smoothing his red hair down, he glanced over his shoulder and said, "Well, that went pretty well. Now we know who is attacking that colony." Athrun nodded in reply, his gazed focused on their commander, Le Creuset. Touching down gently on the floor, both pilots gave the ZAFT salute to Le Creuset. Returning the salute, the commander asked, "Did you discover who was firing on that colony?"

"Yes, sir. The shots were from the Moon, and were intended to damage the colony, not destroy it. Athrun and I also ran into two machines that were protecting the colony."

"Machines? Were they Mobile Amours?"

"No sir. They were similar to the Gundams, but with some differences." Athrun replied. "I downloaded the data from both the Strike and the Aegis regarding these unknown machines." Le Creuset took the disk from Athun's hand and slipped it in his pocket.

"Good work. You can go now." The man smiled as his two pilots left, thinking about the new information. Turning, he exited the hanger and headed for the brig to check up on the prisoner.

- - -

I think I did ok on the battle scene…I'm not sure of a GM Command's shield could take all those shots, but since I'm too lazy to re-type it, let just say it could.


	4. Phase 3

I just spent the last hour doing this, so enjoy!

- - -

**Phase 3 - Desert Whirlwind**

The BuCUE exploded in a fireball after the two bazookas hit it. "Yeah! Take that, you oversized dog!" The pilot yelled, swinging the GM Ground Type around and picking out his next target. The white and red GM stood out against the tan of the desert around it, making it an easy target for the mass of BuCUEs. If they could hit it, that is.

The pilot, and eighteen-year-old named Senkai grinned as he fired off three more bazookas at a BuCUE. The BuCUE fired two missiles of it's own, but only hit two of the three rockets. The third smashed into it's head, disabling it.

Below on the ground, the members of the Desert Dawn resistance group also found against ZAFT, using rocket launchers from their Jeeps. In the lead Jeep, Sahib let out a roar and fired a rocket at another BuCUE, hitting the Mobile Suit in the front left leg. Sahib was the leader of Desert Dawn, and Senkai could tell by his clothes and scars that he had fought many battles in this barren place. Seeing that the rocket didn't do much damage against the massive machine, the GM fired off a bazooka, destroying the BuCUE as it was about to fire on the Jeeps.

The battle was raging across the desert, but it was apparent that ZAFT was winning. Almost one third of the Desert Dawn Jeeps had been destroyed, and more BuCUEs were arriving every couple of minutes. Seeing that some of the BuCUEs were getting too close for comfort, Senkai maneuvered his GM Ground Type into the air, firing at the two oncoming machines as he did so. The resulting explosion on both BuCUEs indicated that the bazookas had hit their mark.

Hearing his radar beep, the teen looked to his left and spotted what the radar had seen. The Lesseps was approaching. The Lesseps was Andrew Waltfeld's command ship, and it was heading towards Senkai and the others at top speed. Andrew Waltfeld was also known as the "Desert Tiger" for his stunning victories in the North African desert.

"Damn! Why did he have to show up?" Senkai muttered, failing to notice the barrage of missiles heading towards him. The GM Ground Type shuddered as the missiles exploded, badly damaging the bazooka and the GM's right arm. Blue eyes narrowed in anger and Senkai spun the machine around and tossed the now useless bazooka at the nearest BuCUE. Grinning as the weapon smashed into the dog-like Mobile Suit, Senkai turned his attention back to the Lesseps just in time to see yet another Mobile Suit launch.

Deciding it was time for more firepower, the GM Ground Type brought out it's beam rifle from the storage rack on it's back. Meanwhile, the rest of the BuCUEs had retreated, allowing the surviving members of Desert Dawn to make their escape. Focused on the emerging Mobile Suit, Senkai let out a stream of swear words when he realized what he was fighting.

"What it _that_ doing out here! I thought I destroyed it last time!" Senkai fumed as the BuCUE Waltfeld Custom accelerated towards his GM Ground Type. The custom BuCUE was painted orange and gray, with a red patch featuring a tiger's head on each shoulder. Besides the unusual paint job, the machine also had two metal fangs and two metal claws on each foreleg. Senkai had faced the Desert Tiger in this BuCUE once before, but this time he was determined to destroy it.

Raising it's left arm, Senkai brought up the GM's shield, then raced towards the BuCUE, firing at it's missile pack. The orange BuCUE countered by swerving to the right and left, avoiding the shots. Springing into the air, the Mobile Suit fired six of it's missiles at Senkai. Easily blocking the rockets with his shield, Senkai returned fire, hitting the BuCUE in the left shoulder. The ensuing explosion threw the BuCUE slightly off-balance, and Senkai took the opportunity to draw close and slash with his beam saber. The pink beam arched through the air and hit the exposed neck, cutting about half way through it.

"Hah! Not so tough now, are y-" Senkai was cut off as multiple explosions rocked the GM Ground Type, sending it flying away from the damaged custom BuCUE.

Sparks flew from the gaping holes in the GM's right shoulder and arm, as the Mobile Suit landed roughly in the sand. Spitting out more curses in multiple languages, Senkai glared at the opposing BuCUE, who was closing in for the kill.

"Damn it! I won't lose to you!" the male snarled, the GM suddenly throwing it's shield in the BuCUE's path. Unable to avoid it in time, the BuCUE tripped over it; metal claws scratching it badly. Meanwhile, the damaged GM had managed to regain it's footing and had switched the beam rifle from the right hand to the left. Locking onto the orange-and gray BuCUE, Senkai fired two shots, both aimed at the chest area where the pilots were located. By mere chance, the BuCUE shifted position, and the first shot hit the missile pack, causing a massive explosion. The second hit the BuCUE between the shoulders, almost tearing the head and neck part off. Dropping to the ground, the custom BuCUE seemed to glow; then exploded in a fireball.

Panting, Senkai grinned as he surveyed the smoking ruins on Andrew Waltfeld's BuCUE. The young man was certain that nothing could have survived that explosion.

"That's for killing my family, you bastard. May you burn in Hell!" With that, the damaged GM lifted into the air, heading in the direction of the Desert Dawn camp.

- - -

I'm not going to say if Andy is dead or not; you'll just have to wait to see if he comes back. Anyway, here as some answers to the questions posted asked in the reviews.

**# 1:** :D, sorry but Kira and the rest of the Archangel crew aren't in it (with the exception of Murrue Ramius). As for pairings, I might do Murrue Ramius X Rau Le Creuset, and one other (I haven't decided who yet, but it will involved on of the made-up characters and a ZAFT pilot)

**# 2**: gat-x127, at your request, I did a switch and added the GM Blue Destiny Unit 1. It should make an appearance in Phase 4 or 5, depending on how long Phase 4 is.

Thank you all for sending in the reviews. If you would like to see any other GMs in this ask, and I'll see if I can fit it in.


	5. Phase 4

There will be a short appearance by the GM Cold Climate Type, and the start of a relationship between Rau Le Creuset and Murrue Ramius.

**Phase 4 - "Ocean of War"**

The calm ocean flashed beneath the GM Cold Climate Type as it flew over the water, the cloud-covered sky dark as evening approached. The large Mobile Suit had a white body, with light purple torso and accented with red markings. The only weapon it carried was a machine gun with a grenade launcher attached.

Although outside was dark and gloomy, the pilot didn't seem to mind. Whistling, the cheerful teen grinned for no particular reason. Kesu was having a good day; having run across several small islands filled with fruit trees. Of course, Kesu had stuffed himself with the ripe fruit and had taken some with him for a snack. Shifting in the cramped quarters of the cockpit, the male kicked off his sandals. Dressed in a pair of sandals, orange shorts and a tie-dyed T-shirt, he looked more like a beach-comber than a GM pilot.

"Eh?" Kesu stopped whistling as his radar beeped, indicating that something was approaching. Putting his screen to 'zoom' he saw that three DINNs were flying towards him, machine guns pointed at his GM. The trio were in flight mode, and Kesu noted that their sub was floating about half a kilometer away.

"Cool! DINNs! I wonder if they are strong? This is going to be fun!" Kesu said happily. With no battles during the past couple days, he had been getting bored. Resuming his whistling, the sixteen-year-old sat up straighter and aimed his own machine gun at the lead DINN. Firing off several round, he was delighted to see the DINN get hit and veer off to the side. The wings had been hit, along with one shoulder. The remaining two Mobile Suits immediately fired a storm of bullets at the GM Cold Climate Type, but Kesu had already climbed above them.

Chucking, Kesu put his machine gun away and drew both beam sabers from their racks on the waist. Diving steeply, the yellow beams sliced through one DINN; splitting it in two. The one undamaged DINN quickly turned and fired it's anti-aircraft shotgun at the GM's back. Making contact, the shot ripped apart one of the thrusters, making the machine tilt to the left.

Having been thrown forward from the impact, Kesu yelled out as the DINN zoomed past him: "Hey! Who do you think you are, firing on _me_? _I'm_ the one who is attacking you, so just stay still while I destroy you! Jerk!" Finished with his rant, the GM right arm drew back and then threw it's beam saber at the opposing DINN, stabbing right through the center of it. Watching the following explosion, Kesu grinned at turned the GM around just in time to be hit by a barrage of missiles from the lead DINN.

"Where did you come from? I thought you went back to the ship…Oh dear, that doesn't look good…" The teen trailed off as he realized the GM was falling rapidly and was about to explode. The remaining DINN was lining up his shotgun with the GM, so Kesu made a quick decision. The GM was hovering about ten feet above the water; a fall from that height wouldn't kill him, although he might break some bones. Opening the cockpit door, Kesu ran down the short ramp and jumped off with a wild yell of "YAHOO!"

Diving into the water, Kesu heard the explosion of the GM Cold Climate Type as the DINN's shot hit it. Breaking the surface with a splash, the teen saw and heard the approaching raft that the ZAFT submarine had sent to get him.

- - -

Rau Le Creuset drifted through the deserted corridors of his ship, making his way to the brig. The _Vesalius_ was making it's way back to the PLANTs, on orders of the Council. Once arriving, Rau would present all the data on the Gundams and the mysterious machines that fought ZAFT in space and on Earth. He would also get instructions on what the next mission was. Rounding a corner, he stopped as the artificial gravity took over; making the commander drop lightly to the floor.

Striding forward, the masked man smiled slightly as he approached the cell were the prisoner was being held. There were no female soldiers on board, and few women took interest in him; being a soldier, Le Creuset had little time for a relationship. Those who did take an interest in him were soon put off by his cold manner and the silver facemask which hid his eyes. Even if they did stay, Rau was away too much to keep solid ties with them.

Stopping at the appointed cell, he glanced in and was pleased to see that the woman was awake and had heard him approach. Unlocking the cell door, Rau stepped in and shut it behind him; leaving it unlocked. The woman followed his every move, brown eyes focused on him. Le Creuset leaned against the wall, facing Murrue Ramius. It had been over a month since she had been captured along with the five prototype Gundams; but she hadn't complained or resisted the soldiers at all. In fact, Murrue was helpful in every way possible; telling Rau and the pilots everything she knew about the machines.

Since then, Nicol had been looking after her; but the other pilots avoided the Natural. Both Yzak and Dearka despised Naturals; Miguel wasn't much better. Athrun and Rusty didn't seem to mind having Murrue on board, and Nicol was quite friendly to her. Personally, Rau disliked Naturals, but there was something about this female that intrigued him…Shaking himself from his thoughts, the commander spoke to Ramius.

"How are things going for you? We will be arriving at the PLANTs tomorrow; the Council will decide what to do with you."

There was a short pause before Murrue replied, her gaze now on the floor.

"Things are well enough, I suppose. The young pilot has treated me very well, and the others haven't bothered me at all." Raising her eyes until they focused on Le Creuset's face; she asked, "If you don't mind, could you ask the Council if I may stay aboard this ship and work as a mechanic? At Heliopolis, I worked on repairing and building ships for the Earth Alliance. I might be able to help out here, if the Council members allow me."

Taken slightly aback, Rau paused to consider her request. Although ZAFT didn't usually allow Naturals to work or even live in the PLANTs, the Council might make an exception. After all, the _Vesalius_ **was**in need of another mechanic or two…

"I will ask and see what their decision is. But if they choose not to let you stay, there will be nothing I can do to change their minds." The masked man replied. Nodding, the woman smiled.

"Yes, I understand. Thank you."

- - -

Answer time!

gat-x127, I did put both the GM Cold Climate Type in and the GM Cannon. Like the GM Cold Climate Type, the GM Cannon will make a short appearance in Phase 6.

**Note: **Phase 5 is going to be fairly long, so I probably won't finish it within the next couple of days (Although, if I get a lot of spare time and the computer, I might get it done).

**  
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	6. Phase 5

This Phase deals with the history of the GM's. I recommend you go to this link (http/ Many of the places used in this Phase is in the 'Miscellaneous Terms" Section. It's also useful for getting a better picture of what the war was like. Also an error in the last Phase: While discussing the PLANTs leaders, I put it down as the **Council**, when it should be the **PLANT Supreme Council**. Sorry about the mistake.

**Phase 5 - "Yesterday and Tomorrow"**

"So…the other GMs have appeared. Still, it doesn't matter. No matter what they do, the Earth Alliance will not win this war." The white haired girl said, gazing out at the sunset. The PLANT was quiet; the daily rain had just ended and the ground and buildings still reflected the water. Turing away from the window, the female sat down on a small couch and sighed. She was similar to the other pilots; for she also had a GM. Unlike them, she was a member of the ZAFT military. The girl also knew the history of the machines…

- - -

The year is C.E. 11, two years after the Reconstruction War. Most nuclear weapons that remained after the war have been destroyed, with only a few forgotten ones hidden at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. The space colony Yggdrasil had just been completed, and many people have left the war-torn Earth to start a new life in the colony. George Glenn is preparing for his historic trip that will reveal Coordinators to humans, and the fact that there was life elsewhere in the universe. But for now, life is peaceful and the Earth is slowly being reborn after the terrible war.

Five ordinary people moved to Yggdrasil within one month of each other, but their fate was already decided. Hans Teichou, an engineer who had fought in the war, Mörkna Kalla, a nursing assistant, Tetsu Yamato, former fighter pilot, Ning Wong, a farmer-turned-lawyer, and Alak Valaki, a model.

A party was held to officially open the colony, and to welcome the new settlers. These five people met each other at this gathering, and became quick friends.

Now, skip ahead three years. George Glenn has just left for Jupiter, and the existence of Coordinators is now known. Tensions between normal humans, now termed 'Naturals', and the modified Coordinators are high. Throughout the three years, Hans, Mörkna, Tetsu, Ning, and Alak have kept in touch; each living out their dreams in the colony.

Gathering at Hans' home they talk about the effect Coordinators might have on mankind. Several say that they are a gift, while others say they are a curse. But no matter what their opinion, the five friends all agree on one thing: eventually, there will be a war between Naturals and Coordinators.

"Since Coordinators will have the upper hand, we must think of a way to help regular humans fight them. We don't know when the war will be, but there might be new machines that only Coordinators can pilot." Hans said, and all the rest nodded in agreement.

"We must think of a machine that can act as a balance, and give Naturals a chance to fight back." This is how the GMs were born.

Hans came up with the basic design for the GM's: A human-like appearance with a screen instead of eyes. Each GM would be different, but all carry similar weapons. Over the span of ten years, the GM's were created. Hans built the GM Command, Mörkna created the GM Sniper. Next was the GM Ground Type, followed by the GM Cold Climate Type; built by Tetsu and Ning respectively. Last to be made was the GM Cannon.

Unlike the others, Alak was a Coordinator. She had kept it secret from the rest of the group, unsure of what they would say. While creating the Operating System for the machine, Alak included controls that only a Coordinator could master, along with programs that allowed the pilot to tweak the controls.

Once the machines were finished, they were hidden in the space colonies; one at every Lagrange Point. After the original makers had died or became too old to care for the GM's, their sons are daughters took over; keeping the machine working and in top shape. Only one GM was moved, that being the GM Cannon. After ZAFT was formed and the PLANTs were built, Alak's daughter moved the GM there.

- - -

Darkness had now fallen outside the girl's window. She had remained on the couch, thinking about the history of the GM and what their builders had been like. Jerked from her thoughts by a pounding on her door, the female got up and went to answer it. Opening it, she was surprised to see a soldier standing in front of her. Giving the ZAFT salute, the young man spoke.

"Rei, I'm sorry to bother you at this late hour, but something terrible has happened to Siegel Clyne…"

- - -

Phase 6 should be done soon, if my computer doesn't suddenly crash or I get banned from the computer (not very likely). Also, I am looking for one more GM, something that is either as powerful or more powerful than the GM Cannon. Suggestions, anyone?


	7. Phase 6

Well, this is my longest Phase by far. Two and a half pages typed with Times New Roman Fount 12.

**Phase 6 - "Guild of Destiny"**

Humming softly to himself, Kesu looked around his temporary new room. It was a cell in a ZAFT submarine with two guards outside. Temporary, because he knew he was getting out of here…somehow. During the short trip back to the waiting sub, Kesu had peppered his captors with questions, but had received nothing except a growl of "Shut up, you stinkn' Natural!"

Not having realized the fact that he was annoying them, the young pilot talked on, ignoring the looks of hatred that came his way. Now locked in the cell, Kesu started to yell at the two guards.

"You Coordinators think you're so high and mighty, but you lot are still human! No enhancements will ever change that! Personally, I don't care who wins this stupid war; but as long as it teaches you guys that you're still human and not a new species, I'm happy."

Pausing to catch his breath, Kesu continued. "Heck, I can see why Coordinators are fighting this war. You have to protect your home and family from those who seek to destroy it. Besides, it _is _the Earth Alliance's fault. They are the ones who attacked you, starting this whole mess. If other humans would just accept you, Coordinators and Naturals who at least live in peace; if not become friends. But no, the very people who created you decided that you were too 'dangerous', and that 'humans would be wiped out by Coordinators'. I'm sure George Glenn wouldn't have wanted this to happen…he said many times that he wished for peace between the two sides."

Done with his tirade, Kesu leaned back against the wall and sighed. Although what he said was probably true, the teen doubted that these two would listen. Suddenly the whole submarine shuddered as something hit it.

- - -

"Take this, you freaks!" Two shots from the GM Ground Type's beam rifle finished the two DINNs that had been attacking him. While he was occupying the submarine's Mobile Suits, his companions were attacking the sub itself. Known as the Junk Guild, these people went around gathering broken or damaged Mobile Suits and repairing them, then using the Suits for themselves.

The Junk Guild had heard that another GM pilot had been captured by ZAFT and they set out to rescue him. Using an underwater machine that they had built, they trapped the sub, and made sure that the catapults for the underwater machines couldn't be used. Meanwhile, Senkai took care of any aerial Mobile Suits that the sub sent out. As a backup, the Guild had sent out their Gundam Astray Red Frame that they had found in space. Equipped with a flight unit for Earth's atmosphere, it was a formidable opponent.

After making sure the submarine couldn't escape, the leader of the Junk Guild sent a ultimatum to the ZAFT commander.

"Abandon your submarine and the pilot you have prisioner, and we won't pursue you. Fail to evacuate, and we well take your submarine by force."

In the bridge of the sub, a hasty meeting was taking place. Present was the captain, Marco Morassim, the second-in-command Jake Gold, and the ace pilot Hans Yimar.

"Damn it, I won't surrender to a bunch of Naturals!" This came from the captain, who glared up at the Red Frame and the GM.

"But sir, I've heard that some of these people are Coordinators…and that they are very powerful, despite their small attack force. Besides, if they attack, we could lose our lives along with the submarine." replied Jake, shifting uncomfortably under the stare of his commanding officer.

"Jake has a good point, sir. We can always replace the submarine and the Mobile Suits on board."

Sighing, Marco ran a hand through his beard and reached a quick decision. He knew that the new Chairman of the PLANT Supreme Council wouldn't approve, but he didn't want to lose his crew in a pointless battle.

"Alright, alert the crew that we are to evacuate immediately, and sent a reply to those people."

- - -

Still locked in the his cell, Kesu barely noticed the fact that he was now alone. Busy planning his escape from the submarine, he barely noticed when Senkai walked up to his cell and looked in.

"So you're the pilot of that GM that was destroyed." The male said as he unlocked the cell. Jerked from his plans, Kesu stared at the other teen, then smiled. He then noticed how quiet the sub was, and the fact that the other boy wasn't wearing a ZAFT uniform.

"So, I'm getting out of here? Where is everyone? How do you know what a GM is? Who are you?" Bombarding the other person with questions, Kesu stood up and walked out of the cell. Turing, the pair walked down the empty corridor in silence.

After a minute of silence, the other teenager spoke.

"My name is Senkai. Yes, you are getting out of here. My friends told the ZAFT soldiers to leave or we would take the sub by force. Thinking smart for once, the decided to leave, giving the Junk Guild four underwater Mobile Suits, a GINN and three DINNs. I am also a GM pilot, I have a GM Ground Type."

"Cool!" was Kesu's reply. Adding, "I'm Kesu, by the way. Nice to meet you."

Reaching the top deck of the surfaced submarine, the two teens climbed aboard a small raft that took them to the Junk Guild's base ship. The trip there was spent in silence, each pilot thinking. Senkai was wondering when his next fight was going to be; while Kesu pondered where the mess hall was on the ship.

After a quick dinner and a shower, Kesu was lead to the main hanger of the ship by Senkai. As they walked down the hallway, the older teen said,

"While we made our way here to rescue you, the Professor worked on a new GM for you, along with two other Gundams. I think you'll like it." Pausing, the pair entered the spacious hanger and walked over to the captain of the ship, the Professor.

Turning, the captain flashed an energetic smile and turned back to the white sheet covering the new GM.

"Alright, lower the cover!"

The sheet was lowered; and there was the new GM. Completely blue in colour, the head and torso were a dark blue; the arms and legs were regular blue.

"We call it the GM Blue Destiny Unit 1, or the GM Blue Destiny for short. It has two vulcan guns in the head, two chest missiles, two chest machine guns, and two beam sabers stored in the legs. The GM can be equipped with a shield and a 100mm machine gun. What do you think?" The Professor asked, smiling down at Kesu.

"Wow! It's awesome! Thank you so much!" Kesu replied, eyes fixed on his new machine.

- - -

The GM Blue Destiny Unit 1 has made it's first appearance, along with the Junk Guild! This is probably the only time we will see the Junk Guild; I only have vol. 1 of _Gundam Seed Astray R_ at the moment, so I don't know a lot about the storyline. More reviews are welcome!


	8. Phase 7

Just so no one gests confused, this takes place the day of Phase 5. Yet another long chapter; this is 3 pages and a bit…they seem to be getting longer…R&R, please.

**Phase 7 -"Mirror Image"**

"We cannot allow the Earth Alliance to gain any more ground! We must stop them immediately!" the National Defense Committee Leader cried, glaring at the other eleven members of the PLANT Supreme Council.

"Council member Zala, while you do have a good point, the Earth Alliance outnumbers our forces and have much more territory than we do. It would be unwise to attack at random; although ZAFT would probably win, we would take heavy losses." replied the Council Chairman, Siegel Cline.

At that remark, most of the other Council members started to whisper, several glaring in anger at their Chairman. Included in that group were Ezalia Joule. A firm supporter of Patrick Zala's ideas, she disliked Chairman Cline. Her son, Yzak, was battling the Earth Forces with one of the stolen Gundams. She believed that everyone who opposed ZAFT should be crushed, and all the Naturals destroyed.

Sighing, Siegel leaned back, willing away the headache that was threatening to explode. Focused again, the Coordinator stood up, putting an end to the conversations going on around him.

"We will discuss the matter later. Right now, we have Commander Rau Le Creuset giving us a report about recent events." Turing, the man signaled to a ZAFT solider to escort the Commander in. Entering, the masked Coordinator strode up to the Council table and took a disk from his pocket. All eyes watched as he silently slipped the disk into a slot on the edge of the table. Straightening, Le Creuset gave the ZAFT salute to the entire Supreme Council.

"After stealing the Earth Alliance's Mobile Suits, we returned back to the PLANTs. As you should all remember, I gave a detailed report on the five Mobile Suits. Two days later, the _Vesalius_ headed out to patrol the area near the Lunar Base. During that time, we happened to notice that the Base was firing on one of the colonies at Lagrange Point 1. Investigating, two of our pilots engaged with unknown Mobile Suits."

Pausing, Rau typed on the keyboard and pictures of the GM Command and the GM Sniper appeared on the screens in front of each Council member.

"At the time, we had no idea what these machines were, except that they looked similar to the Mobile Suits ZAFT pilots had captured. During the rest of our patrol, we did not see these machines again."

Stopping again, Le Creuset typed on the keyboard again, as voices filled the air.

"Are they with the Earth Alliance?"

"….what are they doing in space?….Who are the pilots?"

"I heard that those machines appeared on Earth…"

Glancing up, the masked man nodded to Chairman Cline, who stood up calling for silence. Quiet once more filled the room, all eyes fixed on Le Creuset. Shifting slightly, he continued.

"Several weeks ago, Commander Andrew Waltfeld was badly injured after engaging battle with another machine. This machine has only been sighted on Earth, not in space. Both pilots of the Custom BuCUE survived, although each will bear the marks of that battle for the rest of their lives.

Three days ago, Commander Marco Morassim and his team battled another of these mystery machines. The machine was destroyed; but the pilot was captured and held for questioning. Unfortunately, the same machine that battled Commander Waltfeld and what appears to be another Gundam hijacked the submarine and forced Commander Morassim and his crew to evacuate. The pilot of the downed machine was left behind. Since then, no reports of these machines have come in."

Finished with his report, Le Creuset fell silent, waiting for the Council's reaction. He had chosen to wait until later to ask the Supreme Council about his prisoner's request; Rau had a feeling that the Council members were too busy absorbing this new information.

"This is an outrage! How could the Earth Alliance develop these things!" roared Patrick Zala. Several others who supported him nodded in agreement.

"We have no indication that the Earth Alliance is behind this." said Yuri Amalfi. "Besides, why would the Lunar Base attack a neutral colony? That's not like them." Once again, other Council members nodded, Chairman Cline among them.

"I agree with Council member Amalfi. These machines could be part of a completely different organization. One was seen with a Gundam…maybe they are all with the group that has the Gundam." Siegel Cline said, scanning the faces of the other Council members. The majority looked like they agreed with him only a few appeared to support Patrick Zala.

"I vote that the ZAFT troops keep an eye out for these machines, and when possible engage in battle with them. All who agree, raise your hand."

Nine of the twelve Council members raised their hands. Most were Moderates, several were even Radicals, usually supporters of Patrick Zala; Le Creuset noted.

"Alright, the vote is passed. Commander, do you have anything else?" Cline said, shifting to look the man in the face. The Supreme Council Chairman had known Le Creuset most of his life; ever since the man arrived at the PLANTs, in fact. During that time, Siegel had never seen him without the distinctive facemask. The other Council members had started to whisper and move around, anxious to be done with the meeting.

"Actually, I do have a small request…." Total silence filled the room. Very rarely had the Commander asked anything of the Council; whatever it was, the issue was obviously important, thought Cline.

"I still have the prisioner that one of my soldiers captured at Heliopolis. After some questioning, she revealed that she used to be a mechanic for the Earth Alliance. With the Council's permission, I would like to have her skills in my hanger. My ship is short several mechanics, and I believe that the prisioner would be an immense help." Falling silent, Le Creuset waited for the decision.

Silence ruled for several seconds, then came an explosion of voices.

"Absolutely not! She might be working for the Earth Alliance as a spy! If we allowed this prisoner access to our Mobile Suits, she could give the data to the Earth Forces!" this outburst came from Patrick Zala. Few others in the room seemed to agree with him, though.

"Yes, what an excellent idea! This prisioner might be able to help improve our knowledge of the Earth Forces' ships."

"The captive might be helpful to the other pilots….as a morel boost, maybe?"

The discussion continued along these line for another few minutes, Patrick Zala and Ezalia Joule trying helplessly to complain. Finally, Chairman Cline called for a vote. Everyone but Zala and Joule agreed with the idea.

"Alright, Commander, you may use the Natural prisoner in your hanger." finished Chairman Cline. Saluting, Le Creuset turned and exited the meeting room. Once outside the dark room, Rau breathed a soft sigh of relief. He had hoped the Supreme Council would grant his request….the masked man had a feeling that Murrue would be happy with the decision. After all, she would be getting out of that cell.

"Commander! Over here!" Turing, he saw that Yzak and Nicol were both waiting for him, along with another ZAFT soldier. Walking over, Rau was surprised to see that the other soldier was a female, and that she wore the patch of Commander Yun Law. After exchanging salutes, the female spoke.

"My name is Rei Valaki. Sir, I've been assigned to your team. All I need is a new uniform with your team patch and someone to help me move into my new quarters."

Nodding, Le Creuset turned to his two Gundam pilots. Nicol would probably be pleased with the Council's ruling, Yzak would be furious. Like his mother, the young solider hated Naturals with a passion. Right now though, the silver haired boy seemed more interested in the newest crew member to ask how the meeting had went.

"Nicol, I want you to help Murrue Ramius into her new quarters. She is now an official member of our crew."

"Yes sir, I'll do it right away." Saluting again, the quiet teen turned and headed off in the direction of the _Vesalius_.

Yzak had taken little notice of what his Commander had said. Ever since meeting Rei, he had felt…odd. Rei had coal black hair and bright green eyes. She was dressed in the standard ZAFT soldier outfit: green uniform with black at the shoulders, neck, cuffs and ankles. He, on the other hand, wore the elite ZAFT outfit. The only difference from the standard was that the green was changed to a deep red colour. When Le Creuset spoke, Yzak focused on his commander.

"Yzak, I want you to help Rei set up in her quarters. After that, take he on a tour of the _Vesalius_."

"Yes sir!" Both soldiers replied. Turning, Yzak led Rei to the ship, striking up a conversation. He felt a strange urge to know more about her…

Smiling, Rau decided to walk around for a bit. He hadn't been back to the PLANTs for more than three months, ever since the attack on Heliopolis. While wandering, he thought about Murrue. Rau had been feeling more attached to her every day, but he had no idea why. After she was a Natural…why should he have feelings for her? Then again…he wasn't what he appeared to be. Oh no, although Le Creuset _was_ a Coordinator, he had a dark secret….Chuckling softly to himself, the masked man turned his thoughts to what Murrue looked like.

While he had wavy blonde hair, she had straight dark brown hair. Murrue also had chocolate colored eyes, unlike him. Rau was tall and slightly muscular, while she was slim and had a good figure. Rau sensed that she was strong-willed and could be stubborn at times; but she had yet to show these qualities to him. He just knew that they were there, hidden.

- - -

Yes, the Junk Guild normally only fights to protect themselves, but I decided to change it around a bit. I haven't seen Le Creuset's eyes yet in the anime, but if he follows the pattern of previous masked men, he _should_ have blue eyes….but since I don't know that for a fact, I didn't add it.


	9. Phase 8

Well, this is the longest chapter to date. It's also the one with the most action and drama in it. Enjoy!

**Phase 8 -"Cosmic Dust"**

"WOW! I get to go into SPACE! Yahoo!" Kesu yelled, a huge grin on his face. He had never been to space before; the teen had been born on Earth and had lived there all his life. Turing around, he called out to the Professor:

"When do I leave?"

"As soon as we reach the Equator. Then we'll launch you through the atmosphere and into space using our catapult." The Junk Guild had modified the ZAFT submarine's catapult to be able to launch objects into space. Although it took a lot of energy, it was possible to launch Mobile Suits.

Sighing, the Professor leaned against the wall, waiting. Suddenly the communications panel beeped. Walking over to it, the woman pressed a button and Senkai's face appeared on the screen.

"I have just received a report that the Chairman of the PLANT Supreme Council has been assassinated." the eighteen-year-old said calmly.

"What! When did it happen?"

"Several days ago, in the evening." came the reply. Kesu, who had been admiring his GM Blue Destiny Unit 1, looked over at the Professor, wondering what all the commotion was about.

"Oh dear…this won't be good for the war….Do you know who is the new Chairman?" said the Professor, a frown on her face. Chairman Cline was well known for trying to negotiate peace talks between the two sides; with him gone, those meetings would probably end.

"Yes. It is Patrick Zala."

Several hours later, Kesu was sitting inside the cockpit of the GM Blue Destiny. The GM was loaded onto the catapult, and the teenager was waiting for the signal to launch. He now had two reasons for going into space: to contact the other GM pilots that were up there, and try and stop Patrick Zala from launching a full-out attack against the Earth Alliance. Normally, he didn't concern himself with politics, but this time was different. This time, his entire family was in danger. Originally from South America, his family had moved to Panama to escape the war in the south. Years later, the Earth Alliance declared Panama their base; and set up troops there. If the rumors were true, then ZAFT was going to attack Panama. He couldn't let that happen.

"I'll stop them…even if I die doing so." Kesu remembered that he had said those words when he left home in the GM Cold Climate Type to go fight against ZAFT.

"Kesu, we're ready to launch. How are things on your end?" Senkai's question jerked the boy out of his thoughts. Taking a final look around the cockpit, he replied, "I'm ready!"

The submarine slowly rose to the surface and readied the modified catapult. The bars along each side flashed from red to orange to green, and the GM Blue Destiny Unit 1 shot upwards in a cloud of stream, quickly becoming a blue speck in the bright blue sky. The GM rose rapidly, it's shield raised to deflect the heat of going through the atmosphere. Inside the cockpit, Kesu held on as the GM lurched and shook, his head cameras obscured by the shield and slowly turning red from the friction. After a long five minutes, Kesu felt himself light slightly from his seat. Letting out a yell, he slowed the GM Blue Destiny down and lowered the blue shield, taking his first look at outer space.

"Wow…It's so big! This is going to be great! I can't wait to have a battle in no gravity!" Grinning broadly, the teen flicked on his sensors and powered up his Mobile Suit. Scanning the surrounding area, he noted two heat sources approaching from the left. Swinging the machine around, he zoomed in on the heat sources and saw that they were two GM's. The Professor had told him that he would be meeting up with two other pilots to go and battle ZAFT near the asteroid Artemis.

"Hey there, glad you could join us. I'm Meimei, and I pilot the GM Sniper." Kesu focused on the tan GM with a long beam rifle slung over it's back. It looked powerful, and probably could take care of most enemies.

"Hello. I'm Shireikan, but you can just call me Shi. I pilot the GM Command." The voice came from the other GM, this one white with a deep purple torso. Blinking, Kesu looked closely at the new Mobile Suit. It reminded him of his old GM Cold Climate Type, except the torso was a darker shade of purple and had a slightly different design.

"Nice to meet both of you. I'm Kesu, and this is my GM Blue Destiny Unit 1." The three teens chatted for several more minutes before Shi said, "Come on, let's get moving. We have a lot of area to cover between here and Artemis." Turning as one, the three GM's sped off in the direction of the asteroid.

- - -

Rei sat calmly in the cockpit of her GM Cannon, waiting for the order to launch. Besides her, Athrun, Rusty, Miguel, Yzak and Dearka were also preparing for the attack on the asteroid Artemis. Nicol was deployed in the Blitz Gundam to destroy the umbrella that acted as a barrier when enemy ships where nearby. Since the _Vesalius _was out of sensor range, the Earth Alliance base had dropped it's shield, allowing the Blitz to go in and destroy the barrier.

Using it's Mirage Colloid, the Blitz drew within range of the support beams for the shield. Raising it's right arm, the Mobile Suit fired two shots at the nearest pillar, destroying it. The Mirage Colloid faded, revealing the Gundam. Inside, the Earth Alliance forces scrambled to deploy some of their own Mobile Armors. Nicol kept destroying the support beams and sent a message back to the _Vesalius_.

"Alright, I'm in. Send everyone out."

In the hanger, everyone did a final check of their machines' systems before walking to the catapult.

"Athrun Zala, Aegis Gundam. Launching!"

"Rusty Mackensie, Launcher Strike Gundam. Let's go!"

"Yzak Joule, Duel Gundam. Launching!"

"Dearka Elsman, Buster Gundam. Let's do this!"

"Miguel Aiman, GINN. Magic Bullet of Dusk!"

"Rei Valaki, GM Cannon. Destroy all Naturals!"

When the GM Cannon cleared the catapult, Rei saw that the Aegis and Strike had taken the lead, with the Buster right behind. Miguel's orange GINN had moved to the side and was to the left of the Buster Gundam. The Duel was last, and Rei pulled up alongside it. In the distance floated the asteroid, buzzing with activity. Flashes of light could be seen; as well as massive explosions when a pillar collapsed.

Besides the fixed cannon on the GM's right shoulder, it also carried a beam rifle in it's left hand. All the Mobile Suits had their weapons ready, each pilot was waiting to get within range before attacking. Several fleets of Mobile Armour had been launched from the base, but Athrun and Rusty ignored them, sweeping right past them to head into the Earth Forces' base. Meanwhile, two warships that had been inside the asteroid emerged and began firing on the ZAFT troops.

"Me and Miguel was take on the ships, you two destroy those Mobile Armors." This came from Dearka as the Buster and the brightly-colored GINN headed off to meet the ships.

"Will do." Rei paused for a moment to survey the battlefield. Two more ZAFT ships where arriving, and numerous GINNs were being sent into the battle. On the Earth Alliance side, there were many Moebius Mobile Armors, some Mistral Mobile Pods, and two escort ships. Taking a closer look at the Mobile Armors, Rei saw one that was shaped differently and had four large pods on it's back.

"So that's the mighty "Hawk of Endymion", eh? I wonder if the Commander will join us…" Rei had heard of the legendary battles between these two; no doubt Le Creuset wouldn't pass this opportunity to try and destroy his nemesis. Coming back to the battle, the pilot activated the thrusters and shot forward, locking on to the nearest opponent.

"Take this, you scum!" she yelled as she fired a rocket at the Mobile Armor. The missile hit the Earth Forces vessel in the centre, destroying it. The Duel Gundam was ahead of the GM, using it's beam saber to make short work of the Earth Alliance's defences. Rei continued to blast away at the remaining Mobile Armors, but paused when Commander Le Creuset's white CGUE shot past, already firing on his enemy's Mobile Armor.

Suddenly, two massive explosions rocked the GM Cannon. Swinging the GM around to look for the source, Rei saw a large cloud of dust and debris where the two Earth Alliance escort ships had been.

"What was that?" Yzak growled over the comm. "Those two ships couldn't have been _that_ big."

"No idea…should we check it out?" Nicol asked, sounding slightly worried.

"Might as well. The other GINNs can handle the rest of the Mobile Armors." Rei replied, hitting the thrusters and charging off in the direction of the dust cloud.

The red-and-white GM approached the debris field, scanning the area with it's scanners. The Duel and Blitz Gundams followed closely, ready to attack anything that moved. Ignoring the battle behind them, Rei opening the comm. system and called out,

"Dearka, Miguel? Are you guys ok?" Receiving no response, Rei paused, unsure of what to do next. The explosions had been large enough to be caused by Mobile Suits being destroyed, but the two escort vessels didn't have that kind of power on them. So what had happened?

"Those damn Naturals! They'll pay for this!" Yzak snarled, speeding into the debris field. Sighing, Rei followed the hotheaded Coordinator after telling Nicol to say where he was and alert them if Miguel and Dearka appeared.

"Sure. Be careful, though." the green-haired boy replied, looking concerned.

Rei continued to move through the thick dust, keeping a close eye out for any sign of the Buster Gundam or Miguel's custom GINN. Hearing her radar beep, the female Coordinator looked down and saw something on the edge of the screen. Turing in that direction, she followed the signal and came upon what was left of an orange GINN. The left side of it had been utterly destroyed, gaping holes made sure of that. The head had been slashed off, it floated a few feet away from the body. The right side of the torso looked intact, little damage had been done to the cockpit.

"Miguel! Can you hear me?" Rei called, simultaneously sending her position coordinates to Yzak. Within a few seconds of her message, the Duel Gundam appeared out of the dust across from her. With him was the Buster Gundam. Both the high-energy rifle and the gun launcher had been destroyed, as well and most of the shoulders.

"We were attacked by a group of GM's that was with the escort ships. A blue one got Miguel, and a purple-and-white one attacked me. There might also have been a sniper farther out." Dearka said softly. From what Rei could see on the screen, he looked shaken, and a blood dripped from a small cut on his forehead.

"Alright, I'll go after them. Yzak, you take Dearka and Miguel back to the _Vesalius_, Rei ordered. The silver-haired boy looked like he was going to object taking orders from a younger officer, but he only glared at her and nodded.

Grabbing the wreckage of the orange GINN, the Duel Gundam vanished into the thinning dust cloud, Dearka right behind him. Re-loading the cannon and checking the energy left in her beam rifle, Rei took off in the direction Yzak and Dearka had come from.

Several minutes later, Rei had found nothing to indicate that there were more GM's in the area. Now in open space, she could see nothing except the distant stars. Unless the mystery machines were still in the remains or the ships' wreckage….A storm of bullets rammed into the GM Cannon's thruster pack, and beam shots went flying past the head.

Rapidly turning the GM around, the Coordinator found that the energy beams were coming from a tan GM floating on the edge of the debris field. Another GM, this on blue, was heading right towards her, followed closely by a purple-and-white GM. Both lead machines carried machine guns, while the sniper had what appeared to be a long-range beam rifle. Smirking, Rei noticed that they were piloted by Naturals. She could tell because the GM's were responding slower that her GM Cannon's controls.

"Fools…You stupid Naturals think you can beat me, a Coordinator? I'll show you who the superior species is!" Rei yelled over the comm. system, pulling her machine out of the line of fire. Getting no response to her threat, she pulled the GM into a barrel roll and fired two rockets at the blue GM and three shots from her beam rifle at the other one. The tan GM was too far away for her to attack, but not for long. Both rockets hit the opposing GM, damaging the upper torso and shoulders. One shot missed the other one, and the second was blocked by it's shield.

Grinning, Rei hit the thrusters as four missiles from the blue GM came toward her, overshooting her machine and exploding as she shot past them. Locking her head guns onto the purple-and-white GM she fired again at the blue one, successfully disabling both chest missile launchers. Using her superior skills, Rei fired the GM's vulcan guns at the other one, managing to distract it long enough to slip past it. Al the while, the tan GM had been firing at her, but Rei easily evaded all shots. Raising her beam rifle, the GM Cannon fired a volley of shots at the sniper, causing several explosions when they hit floating debris. Unlike the other shots, Rei aimed directly at the long beam rifle, hoping to disable it. Luckily, most of the shots did hit the gun, causing the GM's pilot to toss it away before it exploded.

Satisfied that the sniper wouldn't dare to attack her again, the white-haired Coordinator turned her attention back to the two GM's behind her. Suddenly, Yzak's voice came over the comm.

"Are you alright? I thought I saw something going on over here…need a hand?" Rei blinked in shock and stared at the speaker. Not only did Yzak ask to assist her, his voice sounded like it was filled with concern. Shaking off the strange feeling that came over her, the pilot replied, "Alright, if you could take care of that tan GM behind me, I'll work on the other two."

"Fine with me. I always enjoy beating up on Naturals…"

"Whatever." she muttered as she once again locked onto the blue GM, determined to destroy it. It was such an odd colour, the pilot had to be good…or he just liked blue. He had to be the leader of this little group. Firing shot after shot from her beam rifle, she was pleased to see that the once-mighty GM looked like it had been through a meat grinder. Completely focused on the blue GM, Rei realized that the other one was nowhere to be seen.

"Uh-oh…"

"Rei, behind you!" Hearing Yzak's warning yell, Rei spun the GM Cannon around to come face-to-face with the barrel of it's beam rifle. And it was aimed at the cockpit on the GM's chest.

- - -

Busy battling the tan GM with his beam sabers, Yzak didn't notice that Rei was in trouble until he slashed the head and left shoulder off the opposing machine. Kicking the headless GM out of the way and into a piece of space junk, The Duel Gundam turned around just in time to see the purple-and-white GM level it's beam rife at Rei's GM Cannon and fire. In the resulting explosion, the enemy GM sped off to a safer distance and turned to watch. The main body had been obliterated along with the cockpit area.

"No….not her.." Yzak muttered, stunned, as the fusion reactor exploded in a short-lived fireball.

"DAMN YOU!" Yzak screamed, his voice breaking with emotion. Something inside seemed to snap, and his blue eyes widened as the pupils disappeared. Gritting his teeth in anger, the teen charged the Duel Gundam forward towards the GM that had destroyed Rei. Beam sabers drawn, he slashed at the cockpit, determined to utterly destroy this Natural. An eye for an eye, Yzak thought as he attacked relentlessly, chopping the already-damaged shield in two. Raising the twin sabers for the final blow, Yzak swore loudly when the beam disappeared and his Phase Shift Armor went to a dull gray. Finally having enough, the Earth Alliance's GM took off, heading back into the debris field. Too tired to follow it, Yzak turned and saw the heavily damaged blue GM grab onto the tan one, dragging it away.

His gaze finally settled on the remains of the GM Cannon. Drifting closer, she saw a flash of green and black. Putting the Gundam's cameras on 'zoom' Yzak saw a body floating amidst the bits of metal. Hope blossomed in him as he moved next to the still form, opened his cockpit, and grabbed a hold of the body. Pulling it closer, Yzak saw that it was ripped in many places and the faceplate was cracked, Sticking out of it was a large piece of shrapnel. But it was Rei, and she was still alive, although badly injured. Lifting her form into the cockpit, Yzak set her across his knees and shut the cockpit. Turning the Duel around, he sent a message back to the rest of the ZAFT troops in the area.

"This is Yzak Joule of the Le Creuset team. An injured ZAFT soldier…."

- - -

A little note: Yzak does go into SEED(Beserker) Mode in this Phase. I wasn't really sure how to descripe the effects of it, so I did the best I could. gat-x127, Rau is a failed clone, and I think I'll touch on that in one of the later chapters. Also, Muu made a short apperance, you'll learn the outcome of the battle later.


	10. Phase 9

**Phase 9 - "ZGMF-86R GM III"**

"We will land part of our forces on Earth, and the rest will stay in orbit around the Equator. After the Earth Forces send the rest of their troops to Panama, we'll attack. Has everyone got that?" Patrick Zala snapped, glaring out at the large group of ZAFT commanders and captains. All present nodded. Those who were stationed on Earth would receive the transmission shortly, and make plans accordingly. Dismissing the troops, the new Chairman sat back and sighed. Now that Siegel Cline was gone, and his family in lockdown, he was free to do what he wished. Any opposition was crushed, including his opponents on the PLANT Supreme Council. The replacement Councilman for Cline was a man by the name of Gilbert Dullindal.

"Sir, Commander Le Creuset is here for his appointment."

"Send him in."

The large doors hissed open and the masked Coordinator stepped in, followed closely by two guards. Saluting, the Commander spoke.

"You wanted to see me, Chairman Zala?" Rau had a feeling that Zala wasn't too happy about him having a Natural on board a ZAFT vessel. Personally, he didn't mind, but the man knew some of his crew did. Rusty and Miguel in particular hated Naturals, but they had slowly adjusted to having Murrue on board. Yzak seemed to be getting along with her as well, now that she was helping design Rei's new GM. The other pilots were quite nice to Murrue, and Nicol was good friends with her.

"Commander, I want to address the issue of you having a Natural on your ship. You know by the new law that all Naturals in ZAFT are to be either killed, put in jail, or sent to the nearest Earth Forces base. Why do you still have one with you!" the last sentence was almost shouted as Patrick Zala stood up, face red with anger. The two guards stiffened, waiting to hear what the Commander's reply would be.

"I keep her on board because she is a welcome addition to my mechanic crew. Besides," he said with a shrug, "the Natural isn't allowed to leave the ship, so she is already a prisioner. The only areas she has access to are the hanger, cafeteria, and her quarters. In the halls she always is escorted with armed guards" Rau conveniently forgot to mention that Ramius' quarters were connected to his by a door. The Coordinator felt that if Patrick Zala knew that Murrue and himself were close, the Chairman would execute them both.

The Chairman nodded slowly, thinking. Le Creuset's explanation was solid, and Zala didn't want to press that matter further. As long as the Natural was kept out of the way, there was no reason why she couldn't stay on board…Making a face at the thought, the chairman sighed and sat back down.

"I suppose you're right…but if I hear of any problems with your pet Natural, she's going to the nearest jail as fast as I can get her there. Understand?"

"Of course, Chairman Zala. I'll be sure to keep an eye on her." Saluting, Le Creuset turned and headed out, the two soldiers trailing behind.

- - -

"So what are we gonna call the new GM?"

"Well, since it took us three designs to get this one, why don't we call it GM III?" This came from Murrue Ramius, who stood alongside the other mechanics, all staring down at the blueprint for the new machine. They had all worked hard on this new model, using data from the destroyed GM Cannon and the Duel Gundam to design the machine.

"She has a point there…" the others nodded, agreeing with Murrue. Although distant at first, the all-male mechanic squad soon warmed up to the Natural after she showed her skill in engineering.

"Right then! This here GM will be called ZGMF-86R GM III! Let's get to work buildn' it!" Chuckling, the group dispersed to begin their assigned duty. Having nothing to work on, Murrue exited the hanger to find Nicol waiting for her. Returning his warm smile, the pair turned and headed towards the sick bay, the female mechanic carrying the blueprint of the GM III.

"So, how is the planning coming along?" the green-haired teen asked, glancing the roll of paper she carried.

"We're all done. The others are going to start building it now. If all goes as planned, it should be done in about a week."

"That's good. Rei will be happy to hear that. She's been bugging the doctors to let her go, saying that she's fine, a little scratch won't kill her, etc. Unfortunately," he added with a soft laugh, "the doctors aren't buying it, so Rei's stuck in there for a bit longer." Grinning, Nicol continued with his story.

"Dearka, Yzak and me were in the locker room checking our suits, and we could hear Rei yelling from the other side of the ship! Dearka didn't do anything, but Yzak and I rushed off to the sick bay to see what was going on. By the time we arrived, the medical staff had managed to calm her down a bit, although several of the doctors had bloody noses and some scratches."

Murrue smiled and nodded, believing him. Although Rei was usually cold around her, she had heard stories of the Coordinator's legendary temper. Luckily, Ramius had always done her best to stay on the pilot's good side, knowing full well how she hated Naturals.

Turning a corner, the pair stopped as Yzak exited the medical area. Catching sight of them, he smiled at Nicol, and gave a slight nod to Murrue. Drifting over, the teen grabbed the railing to steady himself, then spoke.

"Rei's resting at the moment, so you can't go in. If you have anything to give her, you'll have to let the doctor take it." Sensing that Yzak didn't want her around, the female mechanic left the two pilots and headed for the sick bay door, intending to give the blueprints to the doctor.

"Ah, Ms. Ramius, are you here to visit Rei?"

Murrue stopped as she heard the voice of Le Creuset. Spinning around to face him, she gave the ZAFT salute and a greeting.

"Hello Commander, Yes, I'm here to see Rei." Also spotting him, Nicol, and Yzak echoed Murrue's salute and greeting. Rau nodded to the two soldiers, and gave a soft smile to her.

"Well, Rei is resting at the moment, but the doctors have allowed me in. Would you like me to deliver the blueprints of the new GM?" Le Creuset asked, floating up beside her. The mechanic blinked in surprise, wondering how he knew about the document she was carrying.

"Yes please, sir." Murrue replied, handing over the roll of paper. He accepted it with a nod and another smile, calling out, "Nicol, Yzak, you may go prepare for our next mission. Tell the others to meet in the briefing room at 17:00 hours."

"Yes sir!" Both elite soldiers drifted down the corridor, chatting. Without another word, the commander went through the sick bay doors, leaving Ramius to wait outside. She knew better than to leave; Le Creuset had told her about the new laws regarding Natural prisoners. Besides, he had dismissed Nicol and Yzak, so he was probably going to escort her back to her quarters.

- - -

A put a Gundam Seed Destiny reference in this phase if anyone can find it. About the model code of the GM III: ZAFT always uses the letters ZGMF to start the code, and I just added part of the original code on at the end. The real model code for the GM III was RGM-86R GM III.


	11. Phase 10

**Phase 10 - "Call of the United"**

Shi sighed as the three damaged GM's moved back towards the blue orb that was Earth. Smoke trailed from numerous holes in the GM Command's armor, and it's left arm wasn't functioning properly. The other two machines were in even worse shape. The head and left shoulder of the GM Sniper was gone, along with it's beam rifle. It was being dragged by the Blue Destiny GM, which was in slightly better condition then the GM Sniper.

Opening the communication system, Shi spoke to the other two teens.

"Is everyone ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine.

"Me too, but I don't think the pilot of the ZAFT GM is, though." Kesu replied. He had seen the battle between the enemy Gundam and Shi's GM Command after Shi destroyed the other GM.

"What happened?" Meimei asked, confusion in her voice. After the GM Sniper's head had been chopped off, she could had seen nothing of the following events. Shi and Kesu quickly filled her in with the details of the battle, explaining how Shi had destroyed the enemy GM and had then been attacked by the Duel Gundam.

"Why was that GM with ZAFT anyway? And what GM was it?" Kesu asked, thinking about how strong it had been. At the time, the Blue Destiny GM had started to act up, not following his commands or firing too soon. On his computer screen were the words 'EXAM System not activated. Program NTMM must be initiated, then pilot data inserted.' The sixteen-year-old had no idea what the EXAM System or Program NTMM was, or even how to access them.

"I have no idea why it was with ZAFT or what type it was. From the way it was moving, I'd say it was piloted by a Coordinator." Shi said darkly. Normally he didn't mind Coordinator, since he had lived with them for most of his life, but that had changed since he got the GM Command. The teen now felt responsible for the safety of the other pilots, and if he had to kill to do it, he would. Even if it meant destroying Coordinators.

Sighing, he turned his attention to the GM's radar, where a large dot had appeared. Easing the GM Command to a stop, Shi glanced around and spotted the source.

"That's…that's and Earth Alliance battleship! And their launching Mobile Armors!" Shi exclaimed as the pink machines began to pour out of the ship. He knew that none of the others were able to fight an extended battle, and the GM Command was short on ammunition.

"Well….we can either be killed or surrender. I don't know what you two are doing, but I'm going to surrender."

I'm not going to run away and leave you here! We're in this together, no matter what happens!" Kesu replied, pulling his GM up beside Shi's.

"Yeah, I'm with you all the way! We've been through to much for me to leave you two here. Besides, knowing you lot, you'd tell those Earth Alliance guys everything! At the very least, I'm coming along to make sure you two don't blow it!"

"Er…ok…"

As the Earth Forces machines approached, Shi sent out a voice only message to the captain of the battleship.

"There is no need to attack us. We will surrender ourselves and our machines peacefully."

Instead of stopping, the Mobile Armors kept advancing, surrounding the trio of GM's. Each GM had three escorts, and a outer guard of six other Moebius'. Turning, the group headed back towards the ship, moving slowly because of the damaged GM's.

- - -

On board the _Paris_, a Nelson-class battleship, the captain watched the capture and arrival of the strange Mobile Suits with glee. He had clearly heard the message from the lead machine, but had ignored it, thinking that it was a trap. Instead, he had ordered the pilots of the Moebius' to attack if any one of them tried to escape. Luckily for him, none did.

"At last, I have something to fight those dammed Coordinators with! The people in Washington will be proud…"

Turning his attention back to the bridge of the ship, the man called out an order.

"See to it that each prisioner is separated and held away from the others. Do a check of each of those machines and repair the damage. Next, set us on a course back to the Lunar Base, and inform the people there we have prisoners. Last, collect all the data that is stored on the machines and make a copy of it."

"Yes sir!"

"Right away, Captain."

Smirking, the Earth Forces' captain leaned back in his chair, happy that his fleet had made successful capture. As the Agamemnon-class warship moved through the silence of space, the man got frequent updates on the status of the pilots and the data download.

_With this information, I can get a promotion and get stationed on Earth instead of in this stinking base. Ah, it will be nice to have real gravity instead of the sorry excuse that they call 'artificial gravity'. _

Grinning, the older man got up and went to his quarters, determined to write a letter to his wife. Although, there had been plenty of time to do it, the captain kept putting it off. At least he might have some good news to tell her…


	12. Phase 11

Yes, I know it's been a while since I updated, but I've been busy with school and I had to change around some parts in this chapter. Up until now, I've been following the series pretty closely, but that is about to all change. Enjoy!

**Phase 11 - "Wars of the Soul"**

"Commander, we are now approaching Gate 1 of the Ptolemaeus Lunar Base. Speed dropping to one half for docking preparations."

"Copy that. Get the head of the base on the line and tell him that we are about to dock."

"Roger."

Half an hour later, the head of the Lunar Base was standing in a side hanger of the base.

"So these are the captured machines eh? What are the called?" the man asked the technician standing beside him.

The young man shifted uneasily and replied quickly.

"Uh, according to the data collected from the machines, the are called 'GMs". Other than that, we don't know much about them. The others are still processing the remaining data, and the pilots have yet to be interviewed."

"Very well. Why are they so damaged?"

"We're not sure, but we suspect they may have been in a battle shortly before we found them. There is evidence of beam weapons, but I can't tell you anything else at the moment."

"Hm…alright, thanks for the update."

"No problem, sir."

The young man sighed, tugging at his orange and white coveralls as the head of the base walked away. He had never liked talking to people with more power then him, and that included most of the Earth Alliance head members. Oh well, that's life, he thought as he got back into the cockpit of the Blue Destiny GM.

- - -

"Body temperature normal, breathing at 100, and mental functions are stable."

"Excellent. Keep monitoring the other one and prepare the first subject."

"Yes, Doctor Harrelson. First subject is now in the decontamination tank."

The young man watched as a male teenager was gently lowered into the large upright tank. Glancing down at his clipboard, the doctor saw that his name was Shireikan Jidai, and that he had lived at Lagrange Point 1 his entire life. Looking back up at the teen, the doctor smiled, praying that everything would go as planned.

Known as Experiment Rebirth, a team of scientists located in Lagrange Point 2 were working on a plan to create a human that had Coordinator abilities without that person actually becoming a Coordinator. So far, all they had been able to was create medicine that would give Coordinator abilities for a limited amount of time. Known as Biological Central Processing Units (Biological CPU's for short), three teens had already been put on the medicine with tremendous results. Giving a slight smile, Dr, Harrelson retuned his attention to the task of hand.

"Status?"

"Everything's normal, sir. Stage One is now complete, Stage Two is loading."

"Good. I'll start the data processing." Stepping over to the nearest computer, the man typed in his password and did the eye scan. Taking another glance at Shi, he continued to type in the data about the teen that the computer would use to create a unique control system for the boy. In a way, Doctor Harrelson was turning Shi into a human computer, incapable of feeling emotion and with only one purpose: battle.

Sighing, the doctor finished the data processing and started to align the data with the unknown factors that might cause a problem later on. He was interrupted when his assistant spoke.

"Doctor, Stage Two is done loading, Shall I start the countdown?" Countdown was the term the team used to describe the time to took to transform a Natural from a regular human into a Biological CPU, or in this case, into an Automated Battle Unit, or ABU for short. Normally, it would take twenty minutes for the medicine to fully circulate through every part of the body, but for this project it would take longer.

Dark eyes fixed on the screen in front of him, the black doctor nodded and continued to input the factors which would determine what kind of pilot the boy would be. On the screen next to him a clock appeared, counting downward from thirty minutes. Now all he had to do was wait…

- - -

"It's the only way we can win this damn war!"

"But what if ZAFT finds out we're using one of their own against them? They'll destroy us for sure!"

"They're going to do anyway, so why should we just sit back on let them kill us without a fight? Besides, if our little experiment gets in trouble, we have the new Mobile Suits to help out." This comment came from Murata Azrael, leader of Blue Cosmos and owner of Azrael Conglomerate, a military contractor.

"Azrael! I thought you hated Coordinators!"

"I do, but if we have to use a Coordinator to win this war, we should. After it has served our purpose, we can easily kill it."

"Hmm…alright. I grant you permission to use the Biological CPU's and the Coordinator CPU. Make good use of them!"

"Don't I always?" Smirking, the man got up and left the conference room, heading towards the spot where the captured Coordinator-turned Biological CPU was being kept.

After he had left, the discussion turned to another topic, this one concerning the strange Mobile Suits that the three prisoners had been piloting.

"How is production of those new Mobile Suits coming along?"

"Quite well. We have decided to name them Daggers, and they will combine the data from the GM's what backup data we had on the Gundams before ZAFT stole them. The first fifty machines are to be completed in about one hour. Finally, are we going to use them in our attack?"

"Yes, the notice to surrender was sent out three days ago, and we received a reply this morning." Turning, the speaker tapped the table in front of him and a letter appeared on the projection screen at the front of the room.

_To: Uzumi Nara Athha_

_From: Earth Alliance Central Headquarters_

_Date: May 10, C.E. 71_

_This is an ultimatum requesting the surrender of all armed forces and civilians within the boundary of the Orb Union. Failure to follow this order will result in an Earth Alliance attack force, and the takeover of all government and military facilities. We request that you reply by the morning of May 13, C.E. 71. _

_To: Earth Alliance Central Headquarters_

_From: Uzumi Nara Athha_

_Date: May 12, C.E. 71_

_I have considered your request but the Orb Union has decided that we will not lay down our weapons and surrender. Any attempt to attack will be met with resistance. _

"So they aren't going to surrender…Alright, I officially announce Operation Paradise. All troops stationed in Central America are ordered to attack and destroy the Orb Union!"

- - -

"Hey Rei, you're out of the hospital!"

"It's great to have you back!"

Rei smiled as the other members of her team greeted her entrance to the ship's hanger. Glancing around, she stiffened as she caught sight Murrue Ramius. The other female had her back turned to Rei, and appeared to be working on something. Ignoring the Natural, the young pilot continued to walk towards Yzak and the group of mechanics that stood underneath a large machine.

The Mobile Suit was her new GM III, built to replace the GM Cannon that had been destroyed in battle. Unlike her old GM, this one was made fore medium-range combat, and came equipped with a variety of missiles and a upgraded beam rifle. The chest part was a dark blue colour, and the limbs and head were white.

"So? What do ya think?" asked the head mechanic.

"It will do just fine. Thank you."

"No problem, miss." chuckling, the crew dispersed and Rei was left alone with Yzak During her time in the sick bay, Rei had thought about each member of the elite team and what that person meant to her. She had realized that she cared most about Yzak, and that he might feel the same way. Smiling, she stepped closer and started to chat with him.


	13. Phase 12

**Phase 12 - "When Nations Collide"**

"Why should we help a bunch of Naturals who couldn't even defend their own machines? I say we should order an evacuation of all the Coordinators and leave the rest to die by their own stupidity!" this outburst came from Chairman Patrick Zala. Standing up, the older man locked eyes with the other council members, determined to make his point. Several radical members nodded, agreeing with their superior's comment. Most of the others seemed to oppose the idea, since they were all staring silently at Zala. Eyes narrowing and mouth forming a thin line, the Chairman glared back at the non-supportive side of the council and called for a vote. All but four voted to help the Orb Union; so Patrick dismissed the council and went back to his chambers. Once seated behind the grand desk, the Chairman sent out an order to all ZAFT troops located in Australia.

"All troops stationed in Australia and surrounding areas are ordered to defend the Orb Union when it comes under attack by the Earth Alliance."

- - -

"All hands to battle stations! Pilots, prepare for launching!" The intercom called out over the many voices that filled the hanger of the battleship. The blue-and-white pilots were being loaded into their Daggers, and fighter planes were being taken to the top deck for flight. On the bridge, the captain looked out across the calm sea, making sure that his ship was in formation with the other ships on either side of his own.

"Sir, we are now within sight of the Orb Union!"

"Bring up the image." the man replied, adjusting his hat to better see the screen. On the view screen set into the front of the bridge, a picture of a port appeared, with the city behind it. Surrounding the entrance to the port was a large group of Aegis-class battleships. Helis were already in the sky, with more being launched every few minutes. The captain snorted, thinking that those light helicopters would be easy pickings for his Daggers. Lining the shores of the island nation were brown linear tanks with missile trucks behind them.

Checking his watch, the man signaled for the ship to stop and sent a message to the hanger. "This is the start of Operation Paradise! Launch now!"

The hatches on all of the ships opened and the Mobile Suits flew towards the Orb Union. Fighter jets roared as the took off, and the missile pods on all of the ships opened in preparation for firing. "Here we go…"

- - -

Hidden far underwater in the harbor of the Orb Union sat ten ZAFT submarines. They formed the advance troops that had been assigned to protect the Orb Union and drive out the Earth Alliance. Waiting in all of the subs' hangers were ZnOs and GOOhNs, all ready to launch at a moment's notice. Hidden around the city were GINNs, DINNs, five GuAIZs, along with the Dual, Buster, and Blitz Gundams. Several GINN WASP Types were stationed just offshore of the linear cannons, and the GM III was protecting the main building were Orb's leader was situated.

Meanwhile, Rau Le Creuset was inside the main hanger where Orb's own Mobile Suits were kept. He had taken on the task of rewriting the OS for all the machines so that the pilots could enter the battle. So far, he was only half-way done.

"Commander, why can't I go out and fight?" the question came from Athrun, who was sitting on a chair just behind Le Creuset. Pausing for a second to figure out what to do next, the man replied, "Because I need you to program this into all of the Mobile Suits when I finish. I know you want to go out and fight Athrun, but you will be of more help in here than out there."

"Alright…" the blue-haired Coordinator sighed, gazing up at the line of red-and-white Astray Gundams that lined the back wall of the room. Truth be told, he was bored. Rusty had been called back to the PLANTs for some unknown reason, and the others were waiting for the Earth Alliance to attack.

Green eyes closed, and the ZAFT pilot allowed his thoughts to settle on his fiancée, Lacus Cline. She had been devastated by her father death, and Athrun had sworn to himself to provide as much support as he could. So far, Lacus seemed to be getting better, although only time would tell if she would return to her old self. Hearing the chair in front of him creak, Athrun opened his eyes and saw his commanding officer looking at him.

"I've finished rewriting the entire system; it just needs to be uploading into all of the machines." the man said softly as Athrun moved from his chair to the computer. "I'll do it right away, sir." the Coordinator replied, fingers flashing over the keys.

- - -

Miguel drummed his fingers on the armrest of his customized orange GINN, wishing that the Naturals would hurry up an attack. He hated waiting around, especially if it was before a big battle. Sighing, the teen did a final check to make sure everything was still working without malfunctioning, and settled back in his seat. Light brown eyes scanned the blue sky pictured on all his screens, searching for some sign of the enemy.

Finding nothing, the blonde lowered his gaze back to the control panel of the machine. Seconds later, his head snapped back up as his radar beeped repeatedly. About 50 blips had appeared on the flashing screen. Grinning, he cried out, "All right! Time to show these Naturals a thing or two about real fighting!"

Hearing various orders from his comm. system, Miguel's GINN shot into the clear blue sky, it's bright colour standing out against the backdrop of steel buildings. Mono eye blazing, the GINN raced towards the opposing Mobile Suits, rifle aimed at the lead one. In the distance, the Coordinator could see the warships that the Earth Alliance had stationed off the coast of the Orb Union. He had no idea what those Gundam-like machines were, but he was going to destroy them no matter what.

"Miguel! What the hell are you doing!" Yzak's angry voice crackled over the comm. "We don't know how powerful those machines are!"

"So what? Are you just going to sit there and let them destroy the city? Or are you going to help me kick some Natural butt?" the teen shot back, simultaneously locking onto the nearest suit. Ever since Rei's GM Cannon had been destroyed back in space, Yzak had changed. The pilot of the Dual had become more cautious, and Miguel couldn't figure out why.

"No…" his team mate muttered, and Miguel noted that the Dual had lifted off and was following along behind him. The rest of the GINNs and a GuAIZ were already in the air, all heading straight towards the enemy. Unlike the other Mobile Suits, the Gundams were standing atop atmospheric flight support crafts called Guul. This helped them stay in the air without having to use the thrusters and therefore waste extra energy.

Hearing his comm. beep, Miguel flicked it on and watched as Nicol's face appeared on a side screen. The green-haired Coordinator looked slightly nervous, but he managed to give his team mate a smile before he spoke. "If you don't mind, I'll stay back and pick off anyone who gets past you, ok?"

"Sure, but you won't be doing much. See ya later!" Giving the younger teen a smile and a thumbs up, the pilot closed the link and focused once more on the approaching suits.


End file.
